National Federation of the Blind of New York State Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
166028451
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Rochester, NY, USA
Phone
5857396473
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$301,203
Expenses
$265,122
Assets
$327,371
Liabilities
$101,066

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Rasheta Bunting (First Vice President)
  • Heather Bird (President)
  • Catherine Mendez (Second Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Rasheta Bunting (First Vice President): $11,480 total reported compensation
  • Arthur Jacobs (Board Member): $8,370 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Self-help for the blind

What it reported doing in 2024

Program A: Education, Civil Rights, and Self-Organization - Operated community outreach offices to provide information to the public about blindness and how to help blind people and to locate blind persons in need of assistance. Provided assistance to blind people to attend seminars and workshops designed to assist the blind in learning methods and techniques of organizing local groups of blind people for self-help and in learning about library services, rehabilitation services, new technology, aids, devices, and other resources and materials. Developed, produced, or distributed in print, Braille, and/or recorded media materials relating to blindness. Provided information to individuals, employers, governmental agencies, and the general public through written, telephone, personal, and media contacts. Developed and strengthened state and local organizations of the blind (self-help and support groups) and provided legal assistance, encouragement, information, or advocacy assistance to blind persons. Worked to improve services of governmental and private agencies established to give services to the blind through consumer input, technical assistance, and monitoring. It is estimated that educational activities in one way or another impact upon at least one million individuals in this state annually. Such services are available to and benefit all of the blind of this state. Additionally, since improvements for blind persons in this state affect all blind persons in the country, these activities potentially benefit in excess of half a million blind people.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 78% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.4%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 97.1%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $44.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.23; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.5%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.8% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.4% of revenue deployed · 97.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $257K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $11K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.